We spent a total of 85 days on the roads of Australia, living in our car and spending barely any money on accommodation. We would cook our own meals in the back of our car and we were able to keep it cheap due to our car setup, which obviously required some initial investment before the trip.
In total, we spent $9,499.24, with an average of $112.50 per day and per couple. Below is a breakdown of all the expenses in Australian Dollars (AUD) and euros for the two of us (note that the conversion is 1€:$1.58, which was the average during our trip):
Transport
This was our biggest expense by far. As the distances are vast, most of our money was spent on fuel (Check out the statistics of our road trip). However, there are some costs related to car registration, insurance, and roadside assistance. We also took some taxis and public transport in Darwin and Sydney:
Note that, the car maintenance costs are not included in this table as I considered they are related to long-term ownership of a car. We owned the car for 2 and a half years, which means that we had to do a major service spending $1,200 before starting the trip. Also, once in Darwin, we performed the 170,000 km service and we had to change a couple of things. That, unfortunately, summed up another $680. In the end, we managed to sell our car for the same price than we bought it after 40,000 km and 2 and a half years owning it. It is no secret though, that owning a car is not a cheap business.
Food
We had our own kitchen. Sometimes, cooking would be challenging due to weather conditions. However, that made us appreciate the food even more. Normally, we would cook once per day in the evening (Check our favorite meals on the road). If there were any leftovers, we would eat them for lunch the next day. Otherwise, we would always have bread/wraps, hummus, tomatoes and avocados for a quick improvised meal. Our breakfast would alternate between muesli and oatmeal or avocado on toast. In total, we spent $1,881 in 85 days, which is an average of $11 per person per day. That is including a few days having lunch out when we were in the cities.
Activities
Aside from diving in SS Yongala, we basically visited many different National Parks. Most of them are free, however, some of them require a fee for visiting, specially Uluru and Kakadu:
Miscellaneous
A total of $1,090.31. This category consists of laundry, internet connection, coffees and non-alcoholic drinks, ice, gas for cooking, parking fees, maps for overnight hikes and some other gear like a hat, sunglasses, inverter for the car, etc.
We also included here a very unexpected fee of $131 for an urgent tourist visa, as the day we were flying we still had not been granted with the free e-visitor visa.
Alcohol
Alcohol in Australia is expensive, even though you buy it from a liquor shop. We did not spend too much time with friends and that reduced the costs a lot. However, we would enjoy a glass (or box) of wine every now and then. In 3 months, we spent $1,032 on alcohol, which is an average of $12.15 a day. Funny fact, that is almost twice the amount we spent on accommodation!
Accommodation
This is the jewel of Australia. Out of 85 days, we free camped 46 nights, slept 26 nights in public campgrounds/caravan parks and 13 days in our friend’s house in Gladstone, Darwin and Sydney (Thank you so much Sepi, Joey, Steph, and Jodies!).
The times we did free camping, we pretty much slept by the side of the road, where sometimes there would be a toilet and sometimes even rainwater. When crossing the desert, the facilities ranged from basic to none. One time, we even slept next to a decomposing camel. However, once we reached South Australia and specifically Victoria, we found that the free camping sites have very good facilities.
When we did pay for a site, it would be because we were visiting a National Park, where there are beautiful public campgrounds. They offer basic facilities, where you can sleep for as little as $3 per person per night, depending on the state. We would also sleep every now and then in a private caravan park to have a hot shower or do some laundry.
In total, we spent $581 in 85 days, with an average of $6.84 per day per couple, that is $3.42 per person per night. However, if we want to keep this massive privilege of free camping, we all need to understand what responsible camping entails, keeping our impact to minimum levels.
In conclusion, one can easily travel around Australia on a budget. Our average spendings per day were similar to the one in our trip to Indonesia. However, prepare to spend a lot of money on petrol if you want to go the distance. If you are more into cities, drinking in pubs and sleeping in Airbnb’s, hotels or even hostels, this post is completely irrelevant. 🙂
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